Stocking the Library at Matthews......

Saturday August 11th, we met early in the morning at 7:00 AM (for those of us who could get up that early) to start stocking the library shelves. Jan, Mary Harper, John and Chris Davis were among the first to arrive. Sam opened up the school for Jan and she was already working when we arrived. The birthday girl was in full swing. Sam had the boxes brought in from the trailers whichwas a great help. We proceeded to start to stack the books and then when Suzie came in we asked the questions needed before we went too far. Ann brought in donuts, Chris brought in a cake and Suzie brought in a dump cake, which was delicious. Chris Small brought in some bottled water. Chris Small ran the short meeting and we all sang Happy Birthday to Jan. We had some members come in and help and as some had to leave others came. A lot was accomplished in 4+ hours we were there. There was definitely more books than there was shelves. But we made a big dent in it and were glad to help out. Here are some pictures I took along the way.

Birthday girl in early to start with loading shelves.

Meeting in progress.

Bob moving around slowly after his back procedure.

Sarah explaining during the short meeting about Zio's fund raiser.

Jan taking a break to read cards given to her before returning to work.

There were groups working both sides of the library.

Team work it what we had Saturday and that is what was needed too.

One of the walls of books after they were loaded.

Sitting on the job? No I think Jerry was handing books off the floor and he was ready to get up, better him than I. I would still be down there.

Those of us who were left, took a picture with the birthday girl, Jan. I don't know where she gets her energy from.

Here the group was covering their ears as the fire alarms were being tried out and I can say that if someone couldn't hear it, then..........

WHALES at Building Blocks Daycare open house..

WHALE

Sheila Arnold works at the Building Block Day Care Center and when they were going to have their open house, this gave her the opportunity to pass out some of the WHALE kits to the parents. I went down to take a few pictures for the blog and scrapbook and Sheila had set up a small display for the information. I ended up helping out a little while she was talking with parents in the other room, by giving some kits out to parents as they passed by me. I was amazed as to the number of small kids who could use this program. The parents who I was able to talk to and give them a kit were happy to receive one. One parent definitely wanted this and thought all hopes of getting another kit like this was not going to happen. She changed infant chairs and lost the data as it could not be transferred to the new chair. This tells me that the flyer that Sheila and Dale came up with will come in handy for those who received a kit and will now have some one to contact for the future. Great Job Sheila and great job to the member(s) who helped bring this to the club.

As parents sat with their kids, it gave us an opportunity to let them know how the WHALE kit would benefit them and of course many were amazed with idea. One parent was so excited that she was able to get the WHALE kit as she had to change Car seats and didn't have the information for the new one. She went to Kids r US and they did not have anything like this to offer. We are very fortunate to have been able to give them what they really needed.

This little one was wandering around comfortably among the parents that I tried to get his photo. But he knew what I wanted and turned every time he giggled. It is kids like this that the WHALE program is made for.

ZIO's Fundraiser day.....

The first fundraiser has been set for August 21st at ZIO's. Sarah Vaughan has made arrangements for this event. Flyers were passed out at the meeting on the 11th and again on the 18th. Jan has included an attachment in her minutes from the last meeting. If you did not get it, please get with Jan and she can resend to you . This will be a Tuesday all day thing so take plenty of flyer's and hand to your friends. Let's help make this a success. Make arrangements to meet there and have a great time eating with friends. Yummy.. I like Italian food myself. See you there.

Update for Valley Fair Daze...

We have met at the Morse' home on August 6th and finalized some ideas we had for the float. There are a few of us that have some projects to finish in effort to put everything together.

We will meet at the high school for a short brief meeting and finish all of the things needed for the float.

Frog jump at 1:00 at the fair. Set up will be around 12:00 and lets hope we get some frogs due to the hot weather. Come out and support the frog jump.

Bingo on Friday night, Saturday starting at 2:00. Shelia Arnold is chairing the concession stand and will be checking with members for donations of goodies to sell to the bingo players. Please get with Shelia or Jan for the work list times. We can always use some helpers.

The Optimist Club members will be picking up trash on Saturday night at midnight. So get your rest and then come out and help us pick up trash. We only have to help out one night as there are others who will help out on the other days.

No Meeting on Labor Day Weekend.
Board meeting will be the following week after the fair.

Don't forget... Meeting at Matthews school..

On August 18th, the meeting will be held at Matthews school nice and early to beat the heat. We will meet at 7:00 to promptly start to put items back on the shelves starting as early as 7:30 AM if we can. It is also our Secretaries B-day and we want to wish Jan a happy birthday that day also. So come out and join the fun....

WHALE information at open house....

On Tuesday, Building Blocks will have their open house in which Shelia will be handing out kits for the WHALE program. Please lend your support and drop by to see how you can help out. We did such a wonderful job with the WHALE at the Crime Night event and I know she will do good at the open house as well. I will be attending to take some pictures for our blog and for the scrap book. Hope to see you there.

WHALE is hit at Crime Night event.....

The WHALE was a big hit at the Crime Prevention night at the park Tuesday. There was a great crowd and even though we started a little late in set up, it was worth it. The response we got from parents who had infants and small toddlers that came through were happy to receive the literature. We had a few that knew we would be there and came especially to make sure they got their kits. We gave out close to 100 kits along with our Club brochure and book markers. We had a good location and were busy from the beginning until we shut down after all of the other tables had ran out of handouts, which was around close to 8:00. We had other Optimist members who helped by bringing us water or soft drinks, food, taking pictures and checking to see how we were doing. Thank you Dale for taking the pictures for me. Shelia and Dale did a great job with a poster they made and brought an infant chair to show where the stickers would be placed. We had a lot of appreciative parents, grandparents and babysitters who loved the concept of the kits and thanks us for our concerns.
Shelia will be doing an open house on Tuesday 8-14 at the day care and will be setting up another table to give to the parents who come that night. Shelia I know it will be a great hit as well.
Below are some other pictures of Optimist members and some of the events for the day. Please enjoy and if I left anything out, send me the information and I will try and include on the next entry.

Chris Davis handing our literature and explaining how to apply the stickers and cards.

Sheila providing information on where the stickers went on the infant chair for the parents who stopped to get more information on the WHALE.

It was nice to see Linda around, she has just gone back to work and is moving around slowly after surgery 6 weeks ago, but glad she came out for the event. Her husband was one of the singers that sang some gospel music with a group.

A singing gospel group in which Linda's husband is to the far right.

Comedy act, these two bared the warm weather and entertained the group with music and jokes. Great Job you two.

Kuntry Korn (Bob Morse)

Kuzzin Kobb (John Davis)

The mounted officers riding around and were part of the officers used for crowd control when the police chase was demonstrated.

A rock wall was put up for those who wanted some adventure.

Even the heat didn't discourage Smokey the Bear from showing up.

This year there were at least three different jumpers for the kids.

Our BBQ cook again this year, Chuck Johnston and the Patricia's representative.

Chuck Johnston took time out for a picture with the Patricia's representative. Sorry but I did not get his name.

Optimist members were chatting while waiting for the police chopper to arrive. The police department put on a display for the crowd with a demonstration of a live pursuit with police cars and police dog chasing the bad guys and how the dogs are used when a foot pursuit is in progress. The police dog did a great job of stopping the bad guy and getting the other that did not want to get out of the car. The Police helicopter was overhead and working with the ground officers. This was a very exciting thing to see but was not able to get pictures of the police activities as the crowd gathered around to view the activities. Good show by the police department for the crowd and I have included a few pictures below.

Helicopter making his debut in the spectacular show that was performed for the group.

Aaron leaning out of the Gazebo as John and him spoke with the Helicopter before the events happened.

Our air support helicopter, picture from the ground.

John Davidson surprise Scott and Bondo with a special presentation, he made an announcement that gave Bondo's service record and the amount of years and hours of service he and Scott had together. Then he announced that Bondo was now going to be retired. Pictures were taken of the dynamic duo and I don't think there wasn't anyone who was not touched by this moment.

last, Aaron presented Scott with his award but also a metal for Bondo to wear. A very touching event for the evening.

Thank you Aaron and John Davidson and all of the officers, military group who helped to make this a success. It was a warm day but the fans and even the helicopter blades helped to cool things down. And thank you again for letting the Optimist Club be part of the activities.

Food drive please bring some can goods

Mary Strack mentioned that her cupboards were bare and could use some can and nonperishable items. We discussed at the meeting that each member bring a few canned goodies to the next meeting for Mary. She indicated that she could really use some canned corn and fruits. But of course will take anything she can get. Please help out and bring your canned goodies.

Still need a 1st Vice-President

The club is still in need for a club 1st Vice President. Please get with Annette or any of the officers if you have some interest.

Annette indicated that the annual Banquet will be on September 22nd. More information to be given at a later date.

Float meeting at the Morse'

There will be a float meeting at the Morse' house on August 6th at 6:30 PM. We will be going over where we are with the ideas we had from our last meeting. See you there.

Restocking Matthews School Library....

We will be re-stocking the shelves with the books that were packed and stored on August 18th. We will have our general meeting at 8:00 at the school and then will proceed to unload the books back on the shelves afterwards. Please try and make this event as we will need all of the help we can get. See you there.

Tuesday at Armstrong

The Optimist Club will have a table on Tuesday night at Armstrong Park. While Grain Valley residents come to enjoy the night out at the National Night Out on Crime, a few of the Optimist members will be at a table with the W.H.A.L.E. kits and information. Don't forget to come out and enjoy the food, the raffles and entertainment. Bob Morse and John Davis will be part of the entertainment again this year. See you there.